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Who can use this?
  • Anyone setting up how a WhatsApp channel behaves when customers message you.
  • Roles: Owners and Admins, and custom roles with permission to manage channels.
  • Plans: Most configurations require the Essential or Advanced plan. Settings you do not have access to appear locked.
Channel configuration is where you decide what happens automatically on a WhatsApp number — when you are open, what customers hear first, what happens when nobody replies, and when a chat closes itself. Each setting is a card you switch on and configure independently.

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Before you start

  • Connect the WhatsApp channel first — see Connect your WhatsApp.
  • Create the canned responses you want to send automatically. Welcome, away, auto reply and re-engagement messages all pick from canned responses rather than free text.
  • Settings apply to one channel. If you run several WhatsApp numbers, configure each one.

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Where to find it

Go to WhatsApp Channel → [your channel] in the left navigation, then open the Configuration tab. The bot or AI agent that answers new conversations isn’t set here. It’s set in the channel’s assignment rules. See Set the default bot for new conversations.
If your channel is in coexistence mode — running the WhatsApp Business App alongside Gallabox — turn the equivalent setting off in the WhatsApp app first. Business hours, welcome messages and away messages exist in both places, and leaving both on sends the customer two messages. See WhatsApp coexistence.

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The settings

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Business hours

Tells customers when you are available, and drives when away messages are sent. You can set:
  • Working hours for each day of the week, or Open 24/7.
  • Special days — different hours for a specific date or a date range, such as a late opening or a half day.
  • Closed days — dates you are shut, such as public holidays.

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Away message

Sends an automatic reply when a customer messages outside your business hours, so nobody is left without an answer overnight. Pick the canned response to send. Away messages depend on Business hours being configured — without hours, Gallabox does not know when you are away.

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Welcome message

Greets a customer with an automatic message the first time they reach you. Pick the canned response to send. You can preview it before saving, and create a new canned response without leaving the page.

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Auto reply

Sends a holding message when a customer has been waiting without a reply — “thanks, someone will be with you shortly.” You configure:
  • Canned response — the message to send.
  • Minutes — how long to wait before sending it.
  • Preference — which conversations it applies to: Unassigned conversations, Assigned conversations, or For all conversations.
Set the wait time slightly above your realistic first-response time. Too short and every customer gets a robotic message before a human would have replied anyway.

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Agent fallback management

Handles conversations that stall because an agent is slow or has gone offline. Two independent rules:
  • Handover Fallback — runs when a chat is handed from one agent, bot or team to a team member, and no reply is sent in time. Under When should this run?, choose Always or Only when the customer is waiting.
  • Inactive Agent Fallback — runs when a customer messages a team member who is marked Away, and no reply is sent in time.
For each rule you set:
  • Escalate after (minutes) — how long to wait, from 1 to 1440.
  • Reassign the chat — Assign to Team, Assign to User, Assign to same team, or Assign to Chat Agent.
  • Send a canned response — an optional message to the customer when the rule runs.
  • Send a webhook — notify an external system when the rule runs.
Both rules only act on conversations assigned to a person, so they don’t fire while a bot is handling the chat. A reply from a team member or bot resets the countdown.

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Re-engagement message

Sends a follow-up when a customer has gone quiet mid-conversation. Set the canned response and the minutes to wait before sending it.
If the customer’s last reply was more than 24 hours ago, WhatsApp requires a template rather than a normal message. See error code 131047.

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Auto resolve chat

Resolves a conversation automatically when a team member replied and the customer hasn’t answered within a set number of Minutes (1–1439). Your open queue then reflects work that’s genuinely active.
  • The countdown starts from a team member’s message. On Coexistence numbers, a message sent from the WhatsApp Business app also counts.
  • It only resolves conversations assigned to a person. Messages sent by a bot don’t start the countdown, so it never closes a chat a bot is handling. For bots, see Bot wait time and drop-off.
  • Messages sent through the API, an integration, or a workflow don’t start the countdown either. Only replies sent from the Inbox, the WhatsApp Business app, or a re-engagement message do.
  • If Re-engagement message is on and set to the same number of minutes, a team member’s reply doesn’t start the countdown. It starts when the re-engagement message is sent.

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Failed message email alert

Sends an email to an address you choose whenever a message fails on this channel. Useful for catching billing problems, quality restrictions and template pauses early rather than discovering them in a report. See Message error codes for what the failures mean.

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Marketing opt-out messages

Handles customers who want to stop receiving marketing messages, and lets them subscribe back. You configure:
  • Primary keyword — the word that triggers opt-out.
  • Additional keywords — other words that should also trigger it, such as Unsubscribe.
  • Opt-out confirmation message — what the customer receives when they opt out.
  • Button text to subscribe back — the label on the re-subscribe button.
  • Re-subscription confirmation — what the customer receives when they opt back in.

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Image visibility

Controls how incoming images appear in conversations. Turn on Hide all images to hide images by default; agents can then unhide individual images as needed. Useful where agents handle sensitive or unsolicited media, or where screens are visible to others.

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AI reply

Drafts suggested replies for agents using AI, based on knowledge sources you choose. You configure:
  • Reply generation instruction — how the AI should write, such as tone and length.
  • Knowledge base — the sources the AI refers to when drafting replies in this channel.
AI reply requires the Advanced plan capability. Drafts are suggestions — an agent still reviews and sends them.

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Business app message settings

Appears only on channels in coexistence mode. Business App Managed By chooses the user or team a conversation moves to when you reply from the WhatsApp Business app. This also takes the conversation from a bot. See Bots and AI agents when you reply from the app.

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Conversation initiation template

Available on some accounts. Sets the template used when an agent starts a brand-new conversation with a customer, along with the button CTA text.

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Suggested setup order

1

Set business hours

Everything time-based depends on this. Do it first.
2

Add welcome and away messages

These cover the two moments a customer is most likely to be left waiting — their first message, and anything sent after hours.
3

Add auto reply and agent fallback

Now handle the in-between case: a customer who reached you during working hours but is not getting a reply.
4

Turn on failed message alerts

So you hear about delivery problems by email rather than finding them later.
5

Set marketing opt-out handling

Required if you send marketing broadcasts, and it protects your number’s quality rating.
6

Add auto resolve last

Once the rest is working, close stale conversations automatically to keep the queue honest.

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FAQs

No. Configuration is per channel. Set it up separately for each WhatsApp number.
That setting is not included in your plan. Contact your account manager to find out what is available on a higher plan.
Your channel is almost certainly in coexistence mode with the setting turned on in both places. Turn the greeting message off in the WhatsApp Business App and keep it only in Gallabox.
Auto reply covers a customer waiting on you — they messaged and nobody has replied yet. Re-engagement covers the opposite — you replied and the customer went quiet.
Messages sent inside the 24-hour customer service window follow normal WhatsApp conversation pricing. See WhatsApp pricing.
Calling is on its own Calls tab on the channel, not in Configuration. See WhatsApp Calling.

Connect your WhatsApp

Set the channel up before configuring it.

Canned responses

Create the messages these settings send.

WhatsApp coexistence

Avoid duplicate automatic messages.

Message error codes

Understand the failures you get alerted about.